Category Archives: Poker

Poker

Return of the Home Game

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We hosted a small home game last night, the first since HDouble’s home game ran afoul of the neighbors and got voluntarily shut down. A few of the usual suspects were rounded up to make donkey calls and ill-timed bluffs against each other on the green felt. We started with a single table tournament with starting stacks of 4000 chips, starting blinds of 25-50, and 30 minute levels. Seats were drawn and cards were in the air. The players:

“Any Two” Lance in the SB.

Mrs. Absinthe in the BB for her second live tournament ever.

StudioGlyphic (that’s me) UTG.

The S.O. UTG+1.

Bill Rini in EP.

Shane in MP1 riding high from his second place finish in an FTP $50 MTT.

Fhwrdh in MP2 and still hatless.

Absinthe in the HJ, directly across from me.

Katkin in the CO.

MySpace George on the button.

Continue reading Return of the Home Game →

Poker

284 miles from Vegas

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In my mind, Vegas is always just four hours away. Compared to LA commute time, four hours never seems that bad. That’s like driving to and from Irvine 1.5 – 2 times. Easy, right?

In reality, everyone in LA and their mother thinks of Vegas in the same way. They might drive up Thursday night, Friday morning, Friday night, or Saturday morning, but they all come back Sunday afternoon.

When you’re waiting out the traffic and heat in Baker, CA in 110 degree weather, an extra night at the MGM Grand for $60 suddenly looks like the deal of the century.

When you realize you’ve spent $100 on fuel and 12 hours of your limited free time crossing the Mojave desert (sober!), two round-trip tickets + cab fares for $500 doesn’t really seem that expensive.

The next time I talk about driving up to Vegas, somebody slap me.

Poker

Booked

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After the 2005 Winter ClassicLast weekend I spent a hellish afternoon in 90+ degree heat at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets near Morongo Casino. And no, I didn’t play.

The heat, the drive, and some general life iffiness made me pretty sure I’d miss this WPBT gathering. However, some prodding from Absinthe, the news that the Lone Gunner was coming, and some last minute deal rates at the MGM Grand conspired to convince me and the s.o. that it’d be worth the trek out there. Plus I hear there’s an overlay.

So if you get bad beat by a cute Asian girl at Caesars… well, let’s just say I taught her everything she knows. With any luck, you’ll be able to recognize me based on the photo to the right.

Poker

Unsafe Poker Rooms

Bill Rini (re-)posted about unsafe online poker rooms that store your username and password in plaintext on your computer. Here’s a list of the rooms, taken directly from his post:

Unsafe Poker Rooms

Betfred Poker (800 780-9362) support@betfred.com
CD POKER feedback@cdpoker.com
CentreBet Poker support@centrebetpoker.com
Diamond Poker (866-636-3533) feedback@diamondclubpoker.com
FairPoker support@fairpoker.com
iPoker http://www1.ipoker.com/area-78.html
Kiwi Casino Poker (1-866-636-3516 ) support@kiwicasinopoker.com
Noble Poker (1-866-860-1181) feedback@noblepoker.com
PlayGate Poker (866-636-3530) feedback@playgatepoker.com
Poker770 commentaires@Poker770.com
PrestigePoker feedback@prestige-poker.com
Sports InterAction feedback@sportsinteraction.com
Titan Poker (866-636-3510) feedback@titanpoker.com
USA Poker (866-636-3561) feedback@usapoker.com

Just as any idiot with a couple of bucks can play poker online, any idiot with a few dollars more can set up an online poker site. This reminds me of the non-random random number generator over at Planet Poker, the worst online poker site I’ve ever played. If you’re interested, go read “How We Learned to Cheat at Online Poker: A Study in Software Security” over at developer.com.

Poker

First Hand of the Night

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Sometimes the poker gods keep smiling:

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $1/$2
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $92.05
UTG+1: $232.30
MP1: $224.35
MP2: $196
MP3: $190
CO: $196
Button: $67
SB: $54.30
Hero: $200

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is BB with Jh Jd
UTG calls, UTG+1 raises to $4, 3 folds, CO raises to $17, Button folds, SB calls, Hero calls, UTG calls, UTG+1 calls.

Flop: 2c 5h Jc ($85, 5 players)
SB is all-in $37.3, Hero calls, UTG raises all-in $75.05, UTG+1 folds, CO calls, Hero raises all-in $183, CO calls all-in $103.95.
Uncalled bets: $4 returned to Hero.

Turn: Qc ($555.35, 0 player + 4 all-in – Main pot: $234.2, Sidepot 1: $113.25, Sidepot 2: $207.9)

River: Qs ($555.35, 0 player + 4 all-in – Main pot: $234.2, Sidepot 1: $113.25, Sidepot 2: $207.9)

Results:
Final pot: $555.35
SB showed As Ah
Hero showed Jh Jd
UTG showed 3s 2s
CO showed Ac Kc

Of course, I was probably too greedy on the flop by flat-calling that first bet. You’d figure I’d have learned my lesson by now.